The Londoners were completely outplayed and could easily have trailed by more goals before substitute Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba finally put a more realistic slant on the scoreline in the closing minutes.

“To play in front of such a crowd and for such a great club, it’s a dream come true,” Lukaku told Sky Sports. “The most important thing is the win; the win was good.”

Your record is safe for another year, @LouMacari10! 😂 pic.twitter.com/yZqb3WzjTw
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
August 13, 2017

Asked whether he felt relief given his hefty price tag, the Belgian added: “No, just joy for the team. When you play for Manchester United everybody has a job to do and mine is to score goals for the team.

“The team did a good job today, everybody was creative.”

United manager Jose Mourinho believes Lukaku’s display will help his confidence going forward.

“It’s always important,” said the Portuguese. “New players in new clubs, new strikers, everyone expects goals from them.

“The pressure is with them. It’s always nice for their confidence.”

Despite seeing his side go top of the embryonic table, Mourinho still felt United could have come out of the blocks quicker.

He added: “The game was difficult, the game was open; at 2-0 they had a chance. I don’t think the game was 4-0.

“Then of course, score the third goal and you can breathe and play with a lot of confidence.

“I think the reality of the game, this was always a difficult game for us.

“We didn’t start especially well, we were a little bit nervous for 10-15 minutes. Then we had a quality performance, good personality, they played with lots of confidence and have given the result.